iPhone bug making deleted pictures reappear, users claim


Some users on Reddit report finding old pictures on their devices that were, in some instances, deleted years ago. The bug may be caused by the latest iOS update, which Apple rolled out earlier this week.

“When in conversation with my partner, I went to send a picture and saw that the latest pictures were NSFW material we’d made years ago when we were living apart. But they were permanently deleted years ago, but magically, they’re back?” one iPhone user said, adding that he also found some old deleted artwork on his iPad.

Several other users have experienced similar issues. One said that he found pictures from 2016 that he thought he had permanently deleted, and another expressed that old pictures reappeared in the recent images section.

In the Reddit forum, there were also fears about possible privacy concerns, particularly for a company like Apple that advocates privacy.

It’s unclear what caused the issue. Some users speculate it may be due to Apple's iOS 17.5 update released this week. However, a few users reported old images reappearing without installing iOS 17.5.

According to MacRumors, the bug may be caused by an indexing bug, photo library corruption, or a syncing issue between local devices and iCloud Photos.

Apple rolled out the latest iOS update on Monday with several new features, including a third-party alert tracker and the ability to download apps from third-party stores for EU users.